Blood Urea Nitrogen to Serum Albumin Ratio (BAR) Predicts Critical Illness in Patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Purpose: We sought to explore the prognostic value of blood urea nitrogen (BUN) to serum albumin ratio (BAR) and further develop a prediction model for critical illness in COVID-19 patients. Patients and Methods: This was a retrospective, multicenter, observational study on adult hospitalized COVID-19 patients from three provinces in China between January 14 and March 9, 2020. Primary outcome was critical illness, including admission to the intensive care unit (ICU), need for invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV), or death. Clinical data were collected within 24 hours after admission to hospitals. The predictive performance of BAR was tested by multivariate logistic regression analysis and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and then a nomogram was developed. Results: A total of 1370 patients with COVID-19 were included and 113 (8.2%) patients eventually developed critical illness in the study. Baseline age (OR: 1.031, 95% CI: 1.014, 1.049), respiratory rate (OR: 1.063, 95% CI: 1.009, 1.120), unconsciousness (OR: 40.078, 95% CI: 5.992, 268.061), lymphocyte counts (OR: 0.352, 95% CI: 0.204, 0.607), total bilirubin (OR: 1.030, 95% CI: 1.001, 1.060) and BAR (OR: 1.319, 95% CI: 1.183, 1.471) were independent risk factors for critical illness. The predictive AUC of BAR was 0.821 (95% CI: 0.784, 0.858; P<0.01) and the optimal cut-off value of BAR was 3.7887 mg/g (sensitivity: 0.690, specificity: 0.786; positive predictive value: 0.225, negative predictive value: 0.966; positive likelihood ratio: 3.226, negative likelihood ratio: 0.394). The C index of nomogram including above six predictors was 0.9031125 (95% CI: 0.8720542, 0.9341708). Conclusion: Elevated BAR at admission is an independent risk factor for critical illness of COVID-19. The novel predictive nomogram including BAR has superior predictive performance.

Automated summary

This study investigated the prognostic value of blood urea nitrogen (BUN) to serum albumin ratio (BAR) in COVID-19 patients, finding that elevated BAR upon admission is an independent risk factor for critical illness. A predictive nomogram including BAR was developed with superior predictive performance.